The present invention relates to cyclic sulfone derivatives which are inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases or the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and as such are useful in the treatment of a condition selected from the group consisting of arthritis, cancer, tissue ulceration, restenosis, periodontal disease, epidermolysis bullosa, scleritis and other diseases characterized by matrix metalloproteinase activity, as well as AIDS, sepsis, septic shock and other diseases involving the production of TNF.
This invention also relates to a method of using such compounds in the treatment of the above diseases in mammals, especially humans, and to the pharmaceutical compositions useful therefor.
There are a number of enzymes which effect the breakdown of structural proteins and which are structurally related metalloproteases. Matrix-degrading metalloproteinases, such as gelatinase, stromelysin and collagenase, are involved in tissue matrix degradation (e.g. collagen collapse) and have been implicated in many pathological conditions involving abnormal connective tissue and basement membrane matrix metabolism, such as arthritis (e.g. osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis), tissue ulceration (e.g. corneal, epidermal and gastric ulceration), abnormal wound healing, periodontal disease, bone disease (e.g. Paget's disease and osteoporosis), tumor metastasis or invasion, as well as HIV-infection (J. Leuk. Biol., 52 (2): 244-248, 1992).
Tumor necrosis factor is recognized to be involved in many infectious and auto-immune diseases (W. Friers, FEBS Letters, 1991, 285, 199). Furthermore, it has been shown that TNF is the prime mediator of the inflammatory response seen in sepsis and septic shock (C. E. Spooner et al., Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology, 1992, 62 S11).